Istanbul was alive, the sun was shining, the weather was almost perfect and for once, I’d had a good night’s sleep. I really wasn’t a morning person, but today’s trip had me excited, enough to get everything ready in time to leave. I couldn’t remember when I’d taken a day off just to relax and enjoy life, to just be.
It seemed like centuries since I’d allowed myself to be carefree again…
These past few years had changed me, I thought to myself sadly, hardened me; I wasn’t the same easygoing happy kid I used to be. I f I looked inside me now, I wouldn’t be able to find even a shred of the naïve girl who had lived in me before. I decided I didn’t want to ruin my good mood by dwelling on the past, so I focused on what I was taking with me.
My backpack was ready and since I’d already marinated the chicken last night, all I had to do was fry it. I finished off the chicken, did a quick salad with my special vinaigrette and sat down to breakfast. I looked at the clock and I still had an hour until Eric picked me up. Aunt Sema and her girls were asleep and since it was Sunday, everyone would just wake up late I imagined.
I quickly got changed into a black tank top, some camo capris and a loose olive green button down which I wore open on top. The overshirt was a bit loose on me but if it became too hot in the afternoon, I’d just take it off, I reasoned. I didn’t want to bother with makeup and so I kept it minimum, some sunscreen, a little lip gloss and some waterproof mascara was all it took to make me decent, thank God for low maintenance skin. I strung on a cross body bag, wore a single gold chain around my neck and my white sneakers.
I looked myself over, was it good enough for a picnic with my boyfriend’s friends, all of whom I’d be meeting for the first time? Or not… It would have to be enough, I thought to myself fiercely, I’d come a long way from trying to please everyone, if people wanted to judge me by my sense of style, I didn’t give a damn. Let them.
Eric rang my cell phone to signal he was outside like we’d planned last night. I picked up the box with the food and my backpack and quietly let myself out.
In a blue t-shirt and white shorts, sitting behind the wheel, Eric looked cute. I smiled as I came back to sit beside him after stowing everything in the back. His hair was mussed and wet and I could smell the scent of his shower gel in the car. My day just instantly brightened after seeing him. His happiness at seeing me was palpable; he gave me a once over and smiled back.
I’d known Eric only a few weeks but we’d already been out on a few dates. Eric was just that kind of a person, easy to be with. Everything fell into place around him. It was effortless being around him. Nice.
“Looks like you had a good morning,” he gave a once over, “Ready to go?”
“Sure, I can already feel myself de-stressing” I replied as I put on my sunglasses and strapped myself in.
He turned up the volume of the music in the background and we took off.
“Where exactly are we going? Which beach?” I asked Eric after a while
“Oh yeah, we’re not going to the beach… not exactly”
“What do you mean?” I frowned
“Well we might go to the beach later but right now, we’re going to the docks. We’ll be spending the day on a friend’s yacht”
“Oh, that sounds great” I sounded a little uncertain even to my own ears.
Eric looked at me, “What’s wrong? Do you get sea sick?”
“I don’t know… I've never been on any kind of a boat”
“It’ll be okay, you’ll see… anyway, it’s not a boat, it’s huge. You’ll love it!”
“Okay,” I caught on to his excitement. “So who else is coming?”
“Zayn and Melisa, Ashton, his brother and a few others”
Okay, that sounded good, I got along well with Melisa and Zayn but it was Ashton who always made everything okay. I’d met Ashton through our mutual friends and we’d taken to one another right from the start. He was a brother and a best friend all rolled into one. I hadn’t met him in a while because he’d been abroad. I didn’t even know he was back, he could’ve texted me at least? And his brother? Ashton had never mentioned his brother to me.
Eric parked his car in the parking spaces near the dock and asked someone on the phone where to meet up. We walked the rest of the way, me with the food box in my arms and Eric with a cold box. I wondered just how many drinks he’s managed to stuff inside. We could make out a small group assembled near the edge of the water… Zayn waved at us and we walked over.
Three girls and three guys made up the party in front on us, all of them eyeing me up and down. Moment of truth, gear up Sarah, I said to myself.
Zayn, Melisa and Ashton were all there, Eric introduced me to the other two girls, Zerrin and Pelin, the former, a brunette with gold highlights and the prettiest sparkling grey eyes looking chic in stylish cutoff jeans and a beaded sleeveless top and the latter a tall thin sloe eyed beauty wearing skin tight shorts and a halter top. Wow, all of it looked designer. I felt a bit underdressed.
Ashton, always affectionate came up to me and gave me a hug. I instantly felt better.
“Where have you been?” I nudged him playfully.
“Just here and there, I’ll tell you later,” he replied.
Mert, the only guy I didn’t know was attired similar to Eric. Everyone looked friendly enough but I could sense some undercurrents in the casual conversation, it looked like we were still waiting for someone…
I looked around the docks and the boats moored there and my gaze wandered over to the one nearest to us. Suddenly someone came out on the boat, his profile towards us, looking towards the horizon and talking on the phone.
There was something familiar about him, that jawline… that profile… I couldn’t quite put my finger on it… Oh God, it couldn’t be.
My heart sped up until I could hear it in my ears, my hands started to shake and it was as if time stood still.
All the blood drained out of me as Ashton shouted, “Hey, bro”
I quickly ducked down and untied my shoe lace and started fiddling with it, glad that I’d worn sneakers today instead of flats.
What was HE doing here?
How could I face him?
What was I going to do?
Thoughts raced around in my head.
Maybe I could fake an illness, a headache… stomach ache… heartache…
As appealing and absurd as the idea was, I couldn’t just stay down here.
In any case, I wasn’t a coward. I said to myself again to make it true.
I’d done nothing wrong… He should feel all of this. He should be awkward, not I.
I could hear footsteps coming towards us and a pair of black boots appeared in my line of vision. I took a deep breath, retied my laces and stood up just as a pair of eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses turned towards me.
Collision.
I could see the shock on his face and was perversely satisfied that my face showed no emotion. I’d used my time wisely to hide my expression.Let him be surprised, I thought smugly“Guys” he said and I almost fell down to my knees again at his familiar voice, it scraped me raw.Emre Evans.“The man we’ve all been waiting for” Ashton was saying but I was only partially listening.What were the odds that Ashton’s older brother would turn out to be Emre Evans. Should I have known? Their surname wasn’t common enough.I abruptly remembered an old conversation filtered through old memories…Emre mentioning to me that he had a younger brother, a step-brother when his mother had remarried.Oh God.I was brought back out of my reverie by Eric’s voice introducing me to someone who didn’t need an introduction to know me.He was familiar with me… all pa
The boat was amazing; a thing of beauty, all white on white and exposed wood. Built on three levels and designed for a superior outdoor lifestyle, the yacht had a gleaming sundeck, bow seating and even a swim deck to launch jet skis.Eric was pretty impressed, calling it a super yacht.I rolled my eyes, he could afford it, I thought.Good for him. I wondered how many other friends he’d hosted here.How many other women…girlfriends…How convenient.I stopped that thought in its tracks. None of my business.We went inside for the full tour, even more ostentatious I thought as we were led into the main saloon, the forward end of the cabin had been turned into a eat in galley complete with bar stools with the rest of the space furnished with comfy looking couches.Ashton told us how there were four staterooms below decks and two cabins for the crew…Damn… just the kind of toy that separated
I got up and went out. I needed to control my unruly body.It felt like it was functioning apart from my mind.After a few minutes of cooling myself down, I took my bag back with me as an excuse.I felt like I was in a spy movie but who was the imposter here?Who was trying to catch whom?To my relief, Eric had come up and taken my place beside Emre and was showing him Pelin’s pictures.I sat down across from them next to Pelin, taking his place, the table in between all that temptation.Phew, I felt weak with relief.I settled back lazily, leaning my body into the cushions and tilting my face back.I needed some sugar in me, I thought. My mind was a mess.Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to get out a chocolate right now? My body was already too hyped up.Was Emre any less than a sugar rush?Emre suddenly ran a hand through his sun streaked hair and I knew I really needed that chocolate.
The devil lounged back against the wall watching me with a full blown smile on his face.For the tiniest of seconds, it was as it had been before. I would go up to him and throw my arms around his neck and he’d hold me as if he wasn’t ever going to let go.But then I remembered that nothing was as it had been before. He’d made sure of that.“Feeling hot?” his eyes were laughing at me as if he knew just the effect he was having on me.I didn’t think I could reply in a dignified way so I kept quiet and turned back to the view.“You should put on some sunscreen, you’ll burn” he said from behind me.I wanted to say I was already burning so I said nothing.“C’mon let’s go, I’ll make you a drink? For old time’s sake.” He offered blandly.“I’m sure you’ll poison it or poison Eric’s,” I made a face he couldn’t s
I chanced a look at Emre who was silent and staring at the ocean. He suddenly turned and looked straight at me as if he could feel my gaze. Our eyes clashed as a song began to play and I couldn’t look away. I was like a deer in headlights, like the inadvertent prey caught in the hunter’s eyes. He tilted his head and raised a brow, as if asking me something. He slowly walked towards me and wrapped his hand around mine on my now nearly empty glass.“I’ll get you a new one” He said, still not breaking the stare.I looked down, flexing my hand against his.“No,” I could hardly speak, I felt breathless from his proximity, “There’s still some left.”He gave me a smile suddenly, lifted his hand holding the glass on top of mine and still looking at me, drank the remaining contents of the glass.“That really is a very unique flavor,” he said as he walked away towards the bar with my emp
“Emre why?!” I repeated, I wanted to ask him something but I couldn’t remember it.His proximity had obliterated everything else from my brain.“Sarah,” his voice was hoarse.“Emre…” His name sounded like a plea on my lips, only I didn’t know if I wanted him to let me go or come closer to me. My heart was racing so fast I could hear it in my ears, I was sure he must be able to hear it too.“You keep saying my name baby, but I’m right here,” He whispered so close I could feel his breath on my face.I let out a shaky breath and looked up into his grey eyes which seemed darker, they searched mine with an intensity that scorched me.My eyes were drawn down to his lips as if a magnetic force was pulling me toward him. My hand lifted of its own volition and I cupped his rough jaw. Very gently, I touched his wide lower lip with my finger. Flashpoint.No
Emre was sitting on the bed when I closed the door of the bathroom behind me.The cabin wasn’t very big and Emre made it seem even smaller. Emre on the bed did strange things to my insides, I could picture him on it, stretched out preferably with no shirt on.I tried to calm down my raging body but when my eyes met his, I could see he was thinking the same thing. It felt like this thing between us was a living breathing entity present in the room.We’d deprived it for too long, we’d left it starving and shackled for too long and now it was so strong it threatened to burn down the ship until it had consumed us.I looked away, speaking to the wall above Emre’s head, “I need a hairbrush”Clearly this was the last thing he was expecting because he looked a bit taken aback.“Why? Your hair looks okay”Yes, okay as if I’d just been ravished by my secret lover in his cabin on a ship okay,
“Guys I’m hungry. What’s for lunch?” he said“Yea, I’m hungry too” Zayn chimed in, “I heard someone brought over fried chicken,” his gaze was on me.Ashton put both his hands on my shoulders behind me, “Sarah’s food is magic!”“Oh, c’mon Ashton…” I groaned, embarrassed. He’d had some of my cooking before.I didn’t think I was any special than an average home cook.Eric nodded his head in agreement, “She’s good, wait till you guys try it”Pelin made a face, “fried food is very un-healthy”“Not when it’s this good, Pelin sweetheart,” Zayn tilted his head at her mockingly.Emre looked at me, his eyes strange. There was a challenge in them.“She does make good food,” he put in.I couldn’t say anything.I could just look at Emre&rsquo